Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an environment recognition device configured to recognize ambient environment using an optical sensor or a distance sensor and to a robot.
Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there is a robot including, as with a human, a base serving as a body, a head provided at an upper portion of the base, right and left arms extending respectively from upper right and left sides of the base, and right and left legs extending downward from a lower portion of the base.
A robot including an environment recognition device has been known as the robot of this type (see, e.g., Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-183157), the environment recognition device being configured such that a head provided with, e.g., an embedded optical sensor for recognizing ambient environment serves as an environment recognition unit, that a body serves as a base, and that a neck joint mechanism serves as a coupling mechanism.
In this robot including the environment recognition device, the following configuration may be employed: the head is rotatable about a yaw axis, a pitch axis, and a roll axis relative to the base, and a harness electrically connecting between control equipment disposed in the hollow base and the environment recognition unit serving as the head passes inside any of these axes.
The conventional environment recognition device is not configured considering waterproofing from rainwater etc. For this reason, water might enter inside the base through a joint mechanism clearance such as a clearance between a rotary shaft of the head and the base. Thus, in the case where the environment recognition device is used under the environment where rainwater etc. might contact the environment recognition device, a waterproofing unit needs to be provided to protect internal equipment.
For example, in the robot using the environment recognition device as described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-183157, a robot protection wear is employed as a waterproofing unit, and is put on the robot to prevent water from entering the base.
However, such a waterproofing unit not only interrupts operation of the environment recognition device, but also leads to an increase in device size.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described points, and provides a compact environment recognition device having high waterproofing and a robot using the environment recognition device.